As Annabeth Recovers
by prplemyth
Summary: As Annabeth recovers from the worst thing she could have ever seen, Piper is right beside her, holding her as she slowly gets better. Slowly, though, something changes. Pipabeth. Warnings: PTSD, panic attacks, major character death in the first few lines. I hope you enjoy this shift from my usual!


_Present for Michelle radycat on tumblr! But yes Pipabeth prompt and I hope you enjoy! Yep, Sara's writing a non-Percabeth Annabeth fic.  
_

_Warnings: PTSD, panic attacks, major character death (first few lines, actually) _

* * *

Piper's there when it happens. She has to hold Annabeth back by the time they realize what's happening, because Jason's already behind the monster and Percy's already down. Annabeth's screaming for Percy, and Piper can feel her heart breaking for Annabeth, but she knows that there's no hope. She has to keep Annabeth here until it's safe – for her.

Piper lets Annabeth go when the Minotaur disappears and the sobs drawn out from her friend as Percy's name falls from her lips are too much for Piper to handle. So she drops to Annabeth's side and lets Annabeth collapse into her arms.

* * *

The first time Piper feels something for Annabeth that was way out of line, the first time she pulls Annabeth into her arms, it's called a mistake. Annabeth's doing the sobbing uncontrollably thing again as they sit in her bunk in the Argo II, asking if she's a bad person for still standing when Percy's gone, and Piper's holding her when all she can think is that she's never thought someone could cry this much, and she presses a kiss to Annabeth's neck gently. It's a friend kiss, she tells herself, a comfort. Besides, her boyfriend's just died a few days before. It's all she needs - just a little comfort. Annabeth turns a little more into Piper and the tears on Annabeth's lashes are intimidating and make the grey almost silver. Piper coughs and looks away as she tells herself, "she's hurting, it's not what she wants, she'll rethink it in the morning."

When Nico summons Percy for one last time, and Annabeth's last moments with him are given to her, her final goodbyes said, and he tells her, "Be happy for me, Wise Girl, okay?" as he disappears into the air, Annabeth throws herself into Piper's arms and says, "I need you to be here. Always."

Piper finds herself clearing her throat and nodding, her arms tight around Annabeth's waist, and she holds Annabeth up. "I'm right by your side," mutters Piper into her curly blonde hair, "until the end."

* * *

Annabeth's Christmas is a trainwreck, but Piper's next to her, ignoring the fact that Sally Jackson's giving her a look of "whatcha doing here?" because Annabeth needs her. Turns out Annabeth went all nightwalker zombie on Piper the night before and ordered something for Percy for Christmas, had it express shipped, and woke up to find it on her doorstep. Piper had to half-carry her across the city to get to Sally's apartment (though the pleasant, easy Christmas Sally and Annabeth had planned wasn't anywhere near how it was supposed to be), to drop off whatever was in the box and give Sally the presents both girls had made for her. The two of them were living at Camp year round now - no one trusted Annabeth alone with anyone but Piper, she just wasn't stable yet (watching your boyfriend get skewered by the Minotaur he'd defeated twice? That gave a person at least a two year PTSD recovery period) - but Sally had invited them and any other demigods around her place for Christmas time.

Liam, the newest addition to the Jackson-Blofis family that Percy never got to meet, sat toddling along on the floor, and he's the only part of Christmas day that goes well. He's only seven months old, but he makes Annabeth smile like Piper hasn't seen in ages. There's something in Liam's smile that makes Piper think of Percy, and she finds herself hoping that Annabeth either doesn't see it or that Liam's smile is giving Annabeth hers.

* * *

"It's your birthday?" exclaims Annabeth. Her jaw drops. "Piper, I - it's February already?"

Piper nods, and then shrugs, and then nods again, not sure how to react. "I didn't tell anyone," she begins, "and it's just 17, I didn't want to -"

"Yeah, but I already knew!" exclaims Annabeth. "Oh, gods, I'm the worst friend ever, I can't believe –" Her sentence cuts off and she draws a ragged, startling breath. Then, suddenly, the look in her eyes changes to the one Piper knows all too well. Pupils expand and panic fills the grey until they're nearly black.

"Annabeth, sit down," Piper says calmly. She's seen every panic attack, and beginning to recognize triggers. Forgetting, it seems, is the worst one. Piper isn't positive, but she has a feeling it has something to do with the swap that, in the long run, caused Percy's death. Annabeth needs to know everything, it's her crutch, so when she forgets, it brings her back to how Percy must have felt when he forgot and then boom. There's a problem.

"I can't," gasps Annabeth, who begins to pace rapidly. "Piper, I can't, I can't, I –"

Piper sighs, bracing herself. "Alright then." Piper takes Annabeth's hands and lets the other girl squeeze them tight, fingertips going white with the effort. Annabeth's shaking, but Piper keeps her eyes locked on Annabeth. Next comes the challenge: charmspeaking Annabeth into calming down. She was uncomfortable with the idea at first, but Annabeth was convinced it was the only thing that worked.

"You will breathe normally," says Piper firmly. "You will count to twenty out loud and you will tell me the states in alphabetical order once you are done counting. And then you will sit down."

The charmspeak floods over her and Annabeth does just as Piper says, sitting down into the chair when the speaking is over. Her pupils are back to normal and the shaking's gone.

"Are you okay?" Piper asks. "I mean, of course not, but -"

Annabeth throws herself into Piper's arms. "I love you so much," she says into her ear, "I love you so, so much. Thank you."

Automatically Piper's arms wrap around Annabeth, and she presses her face into Annabeth's curly, lemon-scented hair.

Those words, despite the panic attack, made it one of Piper's better birthdays.

Annabeth's turning eighteen in three days.

There hasn't been a panic attack in fourteen, and she hasn't cried in seven.

They're making progress.

* * *

So when Annabeth says, "Piper, I need to talk to you," Piper freezes up, because that's one of the things-she-says when things are about to get bad

Apparently, Annabeth realizes what it sounded like, because she breaks into a grin like she's trying to prove her stability and shakes her head. "No, no, sorry, not - not like that." Annabeth's eyes close, and Piper's incapable of not noticing how the long lashes fan across her cheeks. As Annabeth heals she's looking more and more like the girl Piper met over a year before, and there's little Piper wants to do more than get Annabeth back to who she is.

"I mean - what are we?" Annabeth asks.

The question throws Piper. Lately questions have been "did you forget to restock our chocolate stash?" and "why did you steal all my tampons, you dingdong?" This was completely out of left field.

Annabeth looks down at her hands. "I - I shouldn't have asked that," she mumbles, but Piper hears her laugh a little. Annabeth's gaze rises and grey eyes meet Piper's.

"You - you're serious?" asks Piper, and she finds herself dropping the book she was reading on the floor - whatever the hell it was, she can't remember now, can't even think, and what is that rushing noise in her ears? - "You - what do you think we are?"

"I don't know," Annabeth answers, honesty ringing. "But I - it - is it..." She sighs deeply and exhales everything out. "Is it wrong for this to happen...so soon?"

"Do you want it to happen?" Piper asks, and, for once in her life, she's barely able to speak, her words aren't coming, they're not working for her. This conversation's the most important that's ever happened to her and her natural powers or whatever the hell they are have begun to fail her.

"Do you?" asks Annabeth tentatively, like Piper'd say anything but, "yes, yes, god yes, you wingnut."

Piper laughs lightly. "I think I've been a little in love with you since you charged off of that chariot back before everything really happened. But that's not important." Piper looks into her eyes. "Annabeth, this is all you. What do you want?"

Annabeth searches Piper's face briefly, and then suddenly Annabeth's pressing her lips against Piper's and Piper's brain short circuits. It's different than Jason, but a really, really good different and it's better than those fancy cheesecakes her dad sent her for Annabeth's birthday party that she only took a tiny taste of but Annabeth's better, so much better.

Annabeth breaks away, her hand still lingering on Piper's cheek, and she stares into Piper's face. "Was that okay?" she asks breathlessly.

Piper smiles and nods, "It was," she says as she moves in for another kiss, "it really, really was."

* * *

"You know," says Annabeth a few weeks later, her legs draped across Piper's, "this relationship's technically illegal."

Piper rolls her eyes. "That's not true. You're barely a full year older than me."

Annabeth rolls her eyes in a bizarre parody of Piper's, but Piper pretends not to notice. "No, it's scandalous and stuff."

"Do you want it to be scandalous?"

Piper feels the bed shift, but she refuses to look up. "Well," begins Annabeth, "you're seventeen and I'm the eighteen year old taking advantage of your youth or something. You're not going to be seventeen forever. Next year you're going to be an official adult. I should make you appreciate being young or something."

Piper scoffs, not even putting down her book. "I'm pretty sure your ability to take advantage is more adorable than significant."

There's a sudden distraction when she feels something kind of cold but soft creep along the bottom of her shirt. Piper looks at Annabeth over her book, and realizes that Annabeth, for the first time ever, is getting handsy. In the weirdest way possible– she's running her fingertips along the hemline of Piper's shirt which is not unpleasant, exactly. It's just bizarre.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Piper asks.

Annabeth shrugs. "Maybe? I don't know, this is more your area of expertise."

Piper rolls her eyes. "Do you want me to, like, lead you with this? Because I'm pretty sure the standard with dudes is different than the standards with girls."

"You have a point," says Annabeth, brow furrowing. "Teach me, then."

Piper meets Annabeth's eyes and is startled by the odd combination of academic interest and something a little like lust. "Alright then," Piper mutters, and her book scatters across the floor as she glances around to make sure they really are alone in the cabin. She starts off by locking eyes with Annabeth until the other girl looks down at her lips, and then she leans in. Piper puts a hand behind Annabeth's neck, slowly drawing her in for a long, languid kiss. Kissing Annabeth was different than Jason, better than Jason, and the feel of the long blonde curls against her hand was something she would never get over. _Something about blondes_, thought Piper.

"Okay," sighs Annabeth as Piper pulls away, "what do we do next?"

Piper takes Annabeth's hands and drapes them around her neck, and Annabeth falls against her.

"Hi," says Annabeth, a giddy grin on her face.

Piper can't help but laugh. "Gods, you're a goofball when you get all snuggly like this. I'm glad you're happy, but you're a bit of a limp noodle. Sit up a bit more," Piper says, patting Annabeth's side gently, "I can't have my students slouching on the job. I've got to make sure you know what you're doing."

Annabeth's eyebrows rise and Piper realizes that, maybe, the teacher/student thing is doing something to Annabeth. Piper will have to keep that in mind.

Annabeth does as Piper asks and Piper's hands go to her waist, gently pushing up Annabeth's shirt. Annabeth shivers at the touch.

Piper moves her lips to Annabeth's jaw, "is this okay?" she murmurs against Annabeth's skin, "because the second you're ready to slow down, we're slowing down."  
Annabeth shakes her head, halfway clonking Piper in the jaw. "Nope," Annabeth answers, her response a little breathy and high, "nope, no stopping, please."

Piper moves her shirt up a little higher, her fingers dusting over Annabeth's ribs, and then, suddenly, Annabeth jumps about thirty feet.

"What's wrong?" asks Piper.

"I think that's a ticklish spot," Annabeth says clinically. "Try that again."

Piper stares at her for a split second, still not quite used to Annabeth's odd quirks, and grazes her hand against the spot. Annabeth jumps again. "Huh," she says, "ticklish it is."

Piper rolls her eyes and rolls Annabeth over so the blonde girl is underneath her, and Annabeth's grin gets wider.

"I was hoping you would do that," she says.

Piper just stares at her. "You are so weird," says Piper, and she lowers herself to kiss along Annabeth's neck, down to Annabeth's collarbone, and then, suddenly, there's a hand against Piper's back, very close to her bra clasp.

"Can I?" Annabeth asks.

"Yes, double yes," laughs Piper, and suddenly the bra's undone and Annabeth's hands are on Piper's chest and they're doing something pretty great and, whoops, there goes Piper's vision and her head drops to Annabeth's shoulder.

"Did I do something wrong?" Annabeth asks, sounding a little muffled. Piper blinks a few times and realizes her hair is full on in Annabeth's mouth. The logistics with girls were significantly different than with guys, Piper notes, and she rolls off of Annabeth while the stars fade. "I just did what, um, what I like, and it –"

"That was – yeah, nothing was wrong there," says Piper, and she moves to pull Annabeth to her.

That's when the door slams open, and within a second something's jammed over Piper's head and Annabeth's smoothing out her hair and – how in hell's name did she get a book open that quickly?

Piper feels around her head and realizes Annabeth shoved her Yankee's cap over Piper's head.

"Annabeth?" says Malcolm, giving her an odd look. "What are you doing in here? We're about to start ancient Greek tutoring with some of the new little kids."

"Sorry," she says, flashing the book at him. "Got caught up in a good book."

Piper snorts and Annabeth kicks her. "I'll be out in a minute, Malcolm."

Annabeth's brother gives them a weird look and then the door's closed and he's gone, and the two girls are laughing harder than they had in ages.

"Thanks for being such an awesome girlfriend," laughs Annabeth, and the smile reaches to her eyes for the first time in ages, maybe since they'd met. "I – you're…"

"I love you, too," Piper says quietly. Annabeth's eyes soften and she pulls Piper in for a soft kiss.

"C'mon," Annabeth says softly, "we need to go outside before people start getting suspicious."

Piper sighs and drops back against Annabeth's bed. "But you're really good and that was your first boob experience and you shouldn't have been that good but you so were."

Annabeth's eyebrows rise. "Seriously?" she asks, pointing to her chest. "First boob experience? I mean, they're not huge, but I've had a lifetime of experience with these two. On top of that, if I can make you babble like that, I'm feeling pretty good about my skills."

Piper laughs hysterically, not caring about who might be able to hear, and begins to realize that her best friend being her girlfriend?

That's probably the best way for both of them to heal.


End file.
